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Saturday, December 31, 2011

As 2011 draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to look back on some of the top recipes I posted in the past year. I put a lot of time, effort, and love into each recipe that I make, so it's difficult for me to choose my favorite recipes...I like them all!

If you look at the right side of the page, you can see the top 10 recipes on my blog, ranked by the amount of page hits each recipe gets. I decided to post my top 11 recipes (11 for 2011, of course!), chosen by the number of comments on each recipe. I hope you'll enjoy this recap of this past year's top recipes!

And just for fun, 11 of my favorite recipes from this past year, some of which didn't get the attention they deserve! I really want to encourage you to take a look back at the previous postings from your favorite blogs...as I was working on this, I found some recipes I'd completely forgotten about!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Are you in charge of bringing bread to Christmas dinner this year? If so, this is a great recipe for you to make! It's really quick and delicious.

I was intrigued by the steps of this recipe, I've never let rolls rise in the oven and then leave them in the oven to bake before. To be honest, I really didn't know how it would turn out. I thought I'd give it a try and see what happened, and to my amazement, it worked perfectly! In less than an hour, I had fresh baked yeast rolls on the dinner table. I served these with a piping hot bowl of Zuppa Toscana. This is definitely a recipe that's fast enough for a weeknight dinner, and I think it will quickly become a favorite.

Quick and Fluffy Dinner Rolls﻿

Makes 12 large rolls

You will need:

3/4 cup milk

4 Tablespoons butter

3/4 cup hot water, 110 degrees

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 to 4-1/2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine milk and butter. Microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 170 degrees while you make the rest of the dough.

3. Pour your warmed milk mixture and water into the bowl of your mixer. Add the sugar, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix for 1 minute.

4. Add in the yeast and remaining flour 1 cup at a time, mixing as you add flour. You have enough flour when the dough comes away from the edges of the bowl and forms a ball.

5. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 5 minutes.

7. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and gently round them into balls.

8. Place dough balls in a greased 9x13 pan.

9. Put the pan in your preheated oven and let them rise for about 20 minutes, or until doubled.

10. Leaving the pan in the oven, increase oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.

11. Brush the top of the rolls with melted butter right after removing them from the oven.

Monday, December 26, 2011

One of my favorite things to make during the cold winter months is soup. I love to make a big pot of it, so that we have enough for our meal, plus leftovers for Mike to take to work during the week. Plus, there's something so comforting about a bowl of hot soup on a cold wintery day!

I've mentioned before my love of Olive Garden. Every once in a while, they'll run a special for unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. It makes for a delicious lunch and it's so filling. A couple weeks ago, one of my friends posted this recipe on Facebook. He had just made it for dinner and it sounded delicious. After asking him a few questions about how to make it, I picked up some of the ingredients at the store and set to work. The result was a delicious pot of soup! It's quite filling, especially if served with my Olive Garden Breadsticks! Mike and I both enjoyed this soup, and it tasted even better the next day.

Zuppa Toscana

Serves 4

You will need:

3 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced.

8 cups water

5 Tablespoons chicken bullion

1 pound Italian sausage, browned

handful of fresh kale, washed

1/2 pint heavy cream

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1. In a large saucepan, bring 8 cups of water to a boil.

2. Add in sliced potatoes and boil for 5 minutes.

3. Add in chicken bullion, browned sausage, and kale and boil for another 5 minutes.

Friday, December 23, 2011

One of my absolute favorite things to have for breakfast is cinnamon rolls. Fresh from the oven, hot, and gooey. In my book, it doesn't get much better than that! When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. It combines 2 of my favorite things, cinnamon rolls and french toast, into one quick and easy breakfast casserole. It reminds me of the French Monkey Bread I made last year.

I think this would be the perfect breakfast for Christmas morning. It comes together quickly and you can pop it in the oven while you're opening Christmas gifts. I served it with Brown Sugar Baked Bacon.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Last week I shared a recipe for Hot Chocolate Mix, and today I thought I'd share a recipe for the perfect cookie to enjoy with a cup of Hot Chocolate! As a bonus, it also uses some of the Hot Chocolate Mix! If you made it already, you're ahead of the game. If not, go ahead and click on over to check it out...I'll still be here :)

When I saw this recipe on Alli-n-son, I knew I would love it. As you'll find out tomorrow (when I do a guest post at Mom's Crazy Cooking), one of my favorite cookies is Pecan Snowballs. This is a fun twist on snowballs and for someone who loves chocolate (me!), it's the perfect combination. This cookie was my choice for the baking day I had with my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law earlier this month. I'm glad I chose it!

Monday, December 19, 2011

I just can't believe that we have just 12 days left in 2011...where has this year gone? And now, once again, it's the 3rd Monday of the month. By now, I'm sure you know what that means! It's reveal date for Group C of the Secret Recipe Club. You also know how much fun I have browsing though my assigned blog each month to find a delicious looking recipe to try out.

This month was no different. I was assigned to Kimberly's blog, Rhubarb and Honey. Kimberly loves to share healthy and delicous food, and prefers to buy food produced locally and in a sustainable manner. I can totally relate to that! After reading through her many recipes, I decide on her Brown Sugar Baked Bacon . Simple, and delicous!

Growing up, I remember my brother always dipping his bacon into syrup when we had bacon with pancakes or waffles. I figured this was a similar concept, sweet bacon. I thought this was a fun way to make bacon a little differently, and I think it could also be used in baked goods, similar to how people use chocolate covered bacon. One note though, as you can see, some of the edges of my bacon got rather dark (I think the sugar started to burn), while the middle stayed a bit wobbly. (Probably because I used regular bacon, not thick cut.) Just keep an eye on the bacon and you should be fine!

Brown Sugar Baked Bacon

1 pound thick cut bacon (I used regular bacon)
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the bacon on the cookie sheet side by side.

3. Sprinkle brown sugar over the bacon and rub it in a bit.

4. Place the pan on the top rack of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until browned and crispy.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Have you ever made something that's way to cute to eat? I think these little melting snowmen certainly fit that description! This was my mother-in-law's pick for our 2nd annual Christmas baking day last weekend. These little snowman are really quite simple to put together, they just require a little time and patience, and the outcome is both cute and delicious! I think this would be the perfect activity for kids to do over Christmas break. I'm still a kid at heart, and I had so much fun making these!

4. Place dipped balls on a wax paper lined tray. Allow the excess chocolate to pool below the snowmen.

5. Place a mini Oreo on top of the cookie ball while the chocolate is still wet.

6. When all the balls have been dipped and topped with an Oreo, let them sit until the chocolate has hardened.

7. Divide remaining melted chocolate into 3 small bowls and color each bowl either blue, orange, or red with the food coloring. (I used 4 drops of blue, 4 drops of red, and 1 drop of red with 3 drops of yellow for the orange.)

8. Scoop each color of chocolate into small ziploc bags and snip a tiny piece off the corner to make a piping bag. Decorate each snowman with eyes, a nose, and a mouth. (If you have decorating icing, you could use that to create the faces instead of coloring the chocolate.)

*The original recipe from Kraft Food & Family magazine called for 1/4 cup of peanut butter to be added to the melted chocolate. We did that and ended up with tan snowmen instead of white. Kraft has since edited the recipe to take out the peanut butter. You can leave it in or omit it.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

*I originally planned to share this recipe tomorrow, but since today is National Cocoa Day, I thought I better post today instead!

It's December in Michigan, so of course that means cold weather. Nothing warms me up on a cold winter day like a cup of hot chocolate! The only thing better than a cup of hot chocolate is a cup of hot chocolate topped with homemade marshmallows...mmm!

This mix is so easy to put together and it would make a great gift for your friends! I bought a bunch of adorable little Christmas containers (like the green one above) at Christmas-time last year, not knowing what I would do with them. Then I recently bought some mini dehydrated marshmallows and these little containers are perfect for them. Package the hot chocolate mix in a pretty jar, add a little container of marshmallows and you have a great gift. Now if I could just remember to actually give them to my friends...

1. In your food processor or blender (I used my bullet), grind the powdered milk to a fine powder. (If you don't have a food processor or blender, you can skip this step. I just do it to achieve a finer consistency.)

Monday, December 12, 2011

I absolutely love Christmas time! There's such a feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air. It truly is the "most wonderful time of the year".

Of course, with Christmas comes Christmas cookies! Every year my mom and I would bake dozens of Christmas cookies. We'd eat some and give some away to friends. Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like a plate of fresh baked cookies!

I was talking with a friend one day and she told me about the "easiest, most delicious cookies ever"! So simple that they only require 7 ingredients, and that's if you count the water! Well, easy and delicious are two of my favorite words when it comes to describing foods, so of course I had to get the recipe from her. Mike and I both love these cookies, so I make them frequently. With a little bit of green icing, you can decorate these cookies to make fabulous Christmas goodies!

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When I heard about the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I immediately signed up to join in the fun. The swap was so exciting--I made 3 dozen of these cookies and shipped them off to 3 other bloggers. In return, I received 3 dozen different cookies from 3 other bloggers. So fun! I knew exactly what cookie I would be making! This is a dense enough cookie that it traveled well and from what I've heard from the recipients, this was a great choice.

Friday, December 09, 2011

One of Mike's absolulte favorite potato dishes is cheesy potatoes. Every time we have a family gathering, he asks who is bringing the cheesy potatoes! He was thrilled on the day after Thanksgiving when someone unexpectedly brought cheesy potatoes to the family potluck.

When I received an offer to try Simply Potatoes potato products through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program, I knew I would have to create a version of cheesy potatoes for my husband. I added in some ranch flavor to kick it up and notch, along with one of his favorite foods--bacon. We both really enjoyed this recipe. It was simple to put together and made enough for us to enjoy at two meals.

This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge, hosted by Tina at Mom's Crazy Cooking was to scour the web for the best fudge recipe. I tell you, I think I struck gold! I saw this recipe on Bridget's blog, Bake at 350, and I immediately knew this was my recipe. It was everything you ask for in a fudge, creamy, sweet, melt-in-you-mouth, delicious! It tasted just like a scoop of fresh cookie dough.

Fudge makes a perfect Christmas gift, so what are you waiting for? Wipe the drool from your chin and get baking!

Don't forget that you can vote for your favorite recipe by clicking "like" under each picture. My recipe is #9 and I'd love to have your vote :)